The Class of 2011 arrives… by Matt McGann '00
Orientation programs are beginning, and the campus is really starting to come alive.
Today, the Class of 2011 started to arrive! With International Orientation as well as the Freshman Pre-Orientation Programs (FPOPs) beginning, hundreds of freshmen are all around campus.
Today, I saw Snively ’11 from Oregon (and Snively’s parents), Sara ’11 from Massachusetts, Thilani ’11 from Sri Lanka (and Thilani’s mom), and Beebe ’11 from Maryland. It was great to see everyone. Note to ’11s: Ben, Bryan and I are generally around this week and next, though we’re quite busy with meetings to prepare for the Class of 2012 (!), so don’t be offended if we’re not around when you stop by or don’t have all that much time to chat.
So, just who are the MIT ’11s? Here’s the Class of 2011 Profile:
Incoming Freshman Class Profile
for the MIT Class of 2011
Gender
Male 54%
Female 46%
Ethnicity & Citizenship
US Citizens & Permanent Residents: 92%
* African American 9%
* Asian American 26%
* Caucasian 38%
* Mexican American 7%
* Native American 1%
* Puerto Rican 2%
* Other Hispanic groups 3%
* Other/no response 6%
International citizens 8%
Geography
New England 12%
Mid-Atlantic 15%
Southeast & PR 19%
Midwest & Plains States 13%
South/Southwest 12%
West Coast 19%
Abroad 10%
States represented 49
Countries represented 58
Schooling
Public school 69%
Private school 14%
Religious school 9%
Foreign school 6%
Home schooled <1%
High Schools represented 833
Just for fun
Most popular boy name: Michael
Most popular girl name: Elizabeth
Longest distance traveled: Tangerang, Indonesia
Least distance traveled: Brighton, MA
The one US state not represented: North Dakota
Also, hooray for the Class of 2012! If you’re a prospective, join the Facebook group. =)
Matt, I dropped by your office but it didn’t seem like anyone was in it. At least I know now where all the envelopes and papers and packages get delivered every year.
Yay for the hordes of frosh that are roaming around campus :D.
I’m finally here!! I dropped by the office this morning, but looks like you guys were in a meeting. I’ll try again later.
Haha, I was going to say the same thing about the Dakotas =P Then again, maybe less people applied from the Dakotas?
Anywho, I’m here! My FPOP (Discover Literature) starts today so I’m just killing time until then =)
Maybe it is just the curse of the Dakotas….
Good luck to all the ’11s.
Wonderful to see a great deal of generally underrepresented minorities! Thanks for posting, Matt!
So I’ve decided to start commenting on these blogs, which I’ve been reading a bit obsessively for some time now, as I am one of the many MIT ’12 hopefuls. So I guess this is the year I get to drive all you admissions people crazy
And to all you ‘11s arriving on campus now, have an amazing time! I hope you all realize how incredibly lucky you are!
Congratulations everyone, and hopefully I’ll be one of you next year!!
Yup, Ben, Bryan and Matt, better be preparing for my admission in Class of 2012. I know you need me :D
The newest data I could find on population distribution was from 2001. The five least-populated places were:
1. Wyoming (0.17%)
2. Washington D.C. (0.20%)
3. North Dakota/Vermont/Alaska (0.22%)
4. South Dakota (0.27%)
5. Delaware (0.28%)
Safe to say there weren’t as many applicants from those places, but if Wyoming is represented, the Dakotas have no excuse. =P
I noticed the no response, either. I wonder if I can purposely select no response or any kind of denial to respond. I would prefer to select no response than to select my ethnicity/race. Affirmative action, I do not want that to affect my application in any way (positive or negative for whatever reason).
I want to get in from my skills and achievements alone.
Ooh, cool.
And the reason some people but no response is most likely that they do not feel comfortable disclosing that information, for whatever reason. At least I think so (I wasn’t one of that 6%, so I can’t quite give you first hand reason)
I think if I were to indicate “no response” it would be for the same reason as James. I have mixed feelings about Affirmative Action, and I wouldn’t want it to affect my admission either positively or negatively. Your name has to go on the app though, and not everyone has such a vague name as James or Daniel. =)
No response? If they’re of mixed heritage. they could have just put down “mixed heritage”. The “no response” part is intriguing.
>>Ethnicity & Citizenship
US Citizens & Permanent Residents: 92%
* African American 9%
* Asian American 26%
* Caucasian 38%
* Mexican American 7%
* Native American 1%
* Puerto Rican 2%
* Other Hispanic groups 3%
* Other/no response 6%
There are really two sides to the coin regarding the Dakotas – either nobody applies (a good thing for those of us who are from around here), or nobody is accepted (a very bad thing). Of course, there isn’t a ‘geographic quota’ or anything, so it really doesn’t matter where you come from…
Hi, really quick question: how do I know if MIT has received my SAT score reports from the College Board? Is it listed on the bottom of the Application Tracking page? Thanks lots!
Ok, last year South Dakota was unrepresented, this year it’s North Dakota, I’m thinking that if you’re a prospective ’12 and you live in either of those two states you should, idk, move.
Wait, I have the most popular name?! Does this make me popular?! Woooooooo!
@HS Senior – I seem to remember that being on the App Tracking page, yes. (I can’t check because my entry year is stuck on 2007… halp!)
lol, I am no longer popular. =(
Maybe someone should do an experiment and apply from where they really live and as a Dakotan and see what happens. Though that may mean that you wouldn’t get in at all. Hmm, need a new plan….
Hmm… if you were actually from a Dakota you’d stand out as an applicant!
We ’11s are going to rock this ‘Tute, or die tooling.
When one of us wins a Nobel, remember you heard it here first.
No Michael, you’re popular because you and your parents got mentioned specifically in the second sentence of this blog.
Hooray!! Welcome class ’11 Hi elizabeth! :D
Good luck and congrats to all you ’11s! Hopefully, I will be able to join your ranks soon… I, also, am a hopeful ’12.
Have funnnnnn, all you ’11-ers! (; I wonder who from Hawai’i was accepted to MIT this year!
So, I’m finally coming out of lurking and starting to comment these blogs… I’m a hopeful ’12, as well. (: After reading that last blog with students’ acceptance stories, I’ve been starting to daydream about long, cylindrical tubes in the mail. D:
But anyhow, good luck on the new school year! (;
I love how all us hopeful ’12s are coming out of hiding now. Yay! Good luck ’11s!
Congrats class of ’11! You guys are probably reaaaaaally happy right now. Hopefully this time next year I’ll be just as thrilled as you all! I too am a hopeful ’12, and have been reading blogs for a while now. It’s so cool I feel like on of the gang now! :D
no ’12-ing until you’re accepted.
@ronald – it’s difficult to gauge how many ’11s read the blogs, but this entry should give you an idea…
Ah a new generation of class enters MIT…by the looks of it (Snively’s CPW blog for instance, thanks again!) it’s a crazy class !
Well, prospective ’12 students, do not give up ! Work hard and play hard for the day that you will maybe bear the ’12 suffix (hm, wow, looks a lot like tha dark mark of You-Know-Who…well it’s a dark mark i’m prepare to wear ! hehehe).
Snively are you going to take the 0 = -1 firehorse class ?
@ class of ’11
how many of u used to hang around a lot reading these blogs (read ALL the comments?)
how many of u used to comment a lot in these blogs?
hey matt..tell us wat u prepared for the class of ’12….
@farhad
how’d ur interview go mate?tell us bout it…u on facebook?
Here’s a picture of the tube
http://bp3.blogger.com/_Ji6WxBECHV8/RX5E1fWa5PI/AAAAAAAAAAk/lh-YTzlTF7Q/s1600-h/DSC01778.JPG
The Lambda Calculus? Probably not, seeing as normal calculus kicked my butt, I’m not seeing how the Lambda Calculus could be a realistic thing for me.
As for how many ’11s read the blogs, I’m pretty into it and read all the comments. Quite a few other people are too, from what I can tell. I keep getting stopped and asked if I’m Snively, meaning a lot of people spend way too much time reading the blogs that I spend way too much time commenting on. I think we’re a big happy blogging family.
Oh, can’t help but feel obligated to say this, but Hawkins is the only one that should have a ’12 by his name, he deferred enrollment for a year. Prospectives, sorry, gotta wait until that tube (because I know you all want in EA).
One big happy stalking, er… blogging family.
Thanks for the tube pic, Snively. I’m a lowly RA admit as well and didn’t even get to open my acceptance package (I was on deployment), much less receive a tube.
On the ’12 issue: trust me, it’s exhilarating to finally put that number after your name when you’ve been admitted. Don’t ruin it for yourself. =)
btw, I found another defer! Her name is Vicky. She doesn’t comment much though, so for now I’m special. =P
Ah american students, you are lucky. Is it possible to have a picture of the tube ? Since international students don’t receive a tube (we are RA).
Well Lambda Calculus looked cool, proving 0 = -1 so weird. Anyway! Glad to know you’ll be around to answer all the ’12 prospective students desires !
:] .
thanx guys for answering..
but i dunno if i made my question clear..what i want to know his how many of u used to obsessively read the blogs last year while u were going thru the application process(or maybe even b4 that)..matt ought to include such a column in his statistics too ;0
@ronald – First off, you can’t “not recognize” the differences unless you’re blind and deaf. And second, I maintain that we should celebrate the fact that everyone comes from a different culture/background and has something different to offer. If we were all the same, that would be pretty useless.
Thats neat. Now show me a breakdown of students based on social class. Oops, can’t ask for that, because ignoring the problem of the underrepresented lower class students and overrepresented higher class ones makes it go away. /sarcasm
Its so sad that people think race matters more than background. Anyone who even notices skin color or race or whatever is trash, so why does such an archaic concept take precedence to something that has a much more real effect? No answer? Didn’t think so.
If MIT (or any college, for that matter) is truly egalitarian, those numbers will also be made public.
Cheers
Thanks Snively! But I actually found it later while reading your blog. It looks so cool…
Do RA get a poster too ? I hope we do. Ah, I’m shivering just thinking about the letter. I hope March will come soon!
Hawk by the way where were you deployed if it’s not too personnal ? I hope I’ll meet you then because you’ve experienced something somewhat unique.
@suomynonA – Social class is much more personal data than ethnicity and geography, so I doubt you’ll find it posted on any college’s web site. And because MIT evaluates applicants holistically (i.e., based on what opportunities were available to them), they are egalitarian. Have you even been through the application process? I have…
On another note… It’s silly to pretend that you don’t notice skin color / ethnicity. Those differences should be recognized and celebrated. What’s important is that you don’t hold generalized beliefs about a group of people as a whole. That’s called ignorance, and racism is only a subset.
@hawkins
when i posted my comment u were referring to differences in color/ethinicity being recognised…that’s what i don’t agree with…now u are saying that differences in culture/background must be recognised..which i totally agree with..but u must realise that u are referring to two different things in the two posts…
obviously one can differentiate btwn 2 colors ..but it’s when u recognise the differences and try to widen them with the motive of segregating grps that the prob. occurs..maybe u cud understand betr if u were living in such an area…
oh btw mate..i’ve nothing against you…peace!
@Isshak – We did maritime security ops in the Persian Gulf. (Remember the British sailors that were captured by Iranian forces earlier this year?)
@ronald – Fair enough, skin color and background are separate things, but they’re both part of ethnicity (according to Dictionary.com anyway). Admittedly, skin tones by themselves are not particularly interesting or exciting. I think we’re getting at the same idea though; ignorance bad, diversity good. =)
hey..i don’t agree entirely with u..i’mean their’s no need for the differences to be recognised and celebrated…we celebrate or are proud of something which we earn righteously…skin color is wat u get by default…
but yes..not having generalized beliefs is extremely important..but then again..if u don’t recognise differences then there will be no generalized beliefs…
Wow, it so amazing at the amount of diversity the Class of 2011 has. It also very funny to include the most popular names, something I would never think of. I feel sorry now for North Dakota.
yeah..rite!1 global problem solved;)
@Hawk Wow sounds cool, dangerous, but cool. So I guess that’s why you defered, they needed you !(^^). Well you will have lots to tell us ! But how old are you ? Just asking…
@Isshak – Just turned 21 this summer, so I’ll be 22 as a freshman. No, I won’t buy you beer. =P
What about root beer ? (^^) Don’t worry, I’m not eager to drink, you can check my FBI profile, you will see nothing ! (but just in case you were going to do it, don’t, just don’t…).
So 22 eh ? So, let me think,it makes you…older then me ! I’m so smart sometimes… (I’ll be 17 this saturday. MIT what about admission for a gift ? ^^’).
To the first Anonymous,
I did not put down anything in the ethnicity/race because I do not want to be identified with any race/ethnicity. ( I would love to do the same with gender but then I would be complicating the system, making things difficult for admin)
Even gender ? Why gender ? I can understand why someone wouldn’t want to fill the ethnicity information box, but gender ? MIT doesn’t have a quota for male and female students right ?
MIT does try to admit a very balanced class with similar numbers of male and female students, though they have not always done so. As far as how this influences the admissions process, I have no idea.
Hawk, what do you do right now, are you in the states, or still deployed ?
And Ben or Matt, anyone reading this, what do you mean by preparing for the ’12 class, you already received applications ?
I have this bad habit of stumbling back into comments after they’ve been abandoned. Mea culpa.
Anyway, to answer ronald’s rather astute question about reading the blogs…I read the blogs quite a bit while I was applying – they’re just right there, you know? – and they really did help me understand what MIT was really all about. But I didn’t start commenting until I was admitted and could put that nice shiny ’11 by my name.
Oh, as for the BS poster up above…talking about “upperclass” and “lowerclass” may sound smart, but it’s really just as degenerating as any racial slur. When you apply to MIT, where you come from plays a key role in helping to understand you as an applicant and a person – but your “class,” whatever that means, certainly does not. Merit will win out.
@Isshak – I’m in the states, my ship is in the shipyard getting repairs and upgrades and such. Most likely they’re shifting focus to the ’12 prospectives by preparing for information sessions, setting deadlines, organizing the logistics involved in processing all those thousands of applications, etc.
hmm..thanx for telling that..wat bout the others?
hmm..thanx for answering..wat bout the others?
oops..that’s not technically a troll!! rite?
Well said, Paul.
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Admission people, busy people !
Hm deadlines ? So the current one might change ? Hm I better check the page now and then.
I’m just a prospective student, but what Hawk just said is true, and it’s what I understood when blogging here : it’s what you do with what you can that counts, not what you do because you can.
Quick off topic here, do you know a website where I can find SAT 2 practice tests free (complete ones) ? Because they aren’t sold here and I would really like to know how it looks like, instead of random questions from the tests. Thanks!
@Paul-Sorry you feel that way, but there are two things I’d like to point out to you. First, class actually plays a large part in developing the sociological aspects of an individual. A large part of, as you say, where you come from is determined by social class. Its a part of who we all are. I can’t comprehend how such a thing can be denied. Second, you are correct is deeming upper/lowerclass as akin to slurs. That they can be. However, my point was, it is a fact that certain economic groups are misrepresented, and that ignoring that fact won’t improve the problem. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but claiming that merit is the sole factor in life is naïve at best, dangerous at worst. You’re right, class is a lot like race in that you’re born into it. And never forget that at one point in history, not long ago, really, people claimed racial (and sexual, ethnic, ect.)superiority based on ‘merit.’ It was always ‘We (we being, in American history, wealthy white males) are better, we are in our righteous position.’ Rarely was it ‘They’re disadvantaged. The deck was stacked against them. Let us try to correct the problem.’ I can’t deny that merit helps, but nonetheless, too many make it who should not have, and too many fail who should succeed. I believe Barry Switzer put it best when he said, “Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.” Life isn’t fair, we all know that, but denying that and claiming that everyone is where they should because of ‘merit’ is, no offense meant, quite delusional.
I don’t come from the absolute lowest economic group, but I’m low enough to be, quite frankly, terrified by those who think as you do. Again, sorry you feel that my post was bull, I truly wish you were correct, but the historical evidence and sociological facts still stand. Unfortunately, class is such a touchy subject; I really wish the stigma of mentioning it would dissipate. Okay, jumping off the soapbox
Cheers
suomynonA – Paul was not talking about life in general or the sociological state of the world, and neither were you in your first post. What we’re talking about here, on the MIT Admissions blog, is MIT Admissions. As previously stated, MIT evaluates applicants holistically. If anything, they prefer students who had it rough and had to create their own opportunities to pursue interests, not students who have a 2400 on the SAT but had everything handed to them. Merit, in the context of each student’s personal circumstances, does win out at MIT.
Hello! As the class of ’11 starts their new life, a new season of admissions begins as well! First off, congrats to the class of ’11 and, I have a question of my own – For the essay where it says to describe the world we come from and how it’s shaped our dreams and aspirations, do the admissions people want us to describe something specific (like just our immediate family, one club/organization that’s affected us a lot, or one specific person?) or may we talk about more than one person/group? I’m asking because I know some college essay tips have advised students to write about specific examples and events instead of being broad and vague.
Sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you!
@Anonymous – Take my advice with a grain of salt, as I opted for the other essay question on my application, but I’d say it’s up to you. If there’s one person or even or organization that has changed your life more than anything else, it’s probably worth writing about. On the other hand, you could write about a few different things – do include specific examples, but you may have several examples you’d like to write about. That’s okay as long as you remember there’s a word limit. =P
even = event
Thanks for the response, Hawkins! It helped.
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